Small Galaxy
by mavjade
Summary: Ben SkywalkerOC RomanceFluff. Ben is sent to Tatooine and finds more than he bargained for! Gasp! An update!
1. Chapter 1

**Timeframe **49 ABY (Legacy Era)  
**Characters:** Ben Skywalker, OC, some Luke (I'd like to work Mara in but I don't know if it will work out)  
**Genre:** Romance/Fluff  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing...  
**Authors Notes:** This is my attempt at writing non-angst... so we will see how that turns out :p I know the title bites but it was the best I could come up with so, please forgive me!  
Thanks to Nat for the beta!

**Chapter 1**

Twenty-three-year-old Ben Skywalker sometimes hated the places being a Jedi took him. This was one of those places: Tatooine. When people told him it was dry and hot, they hadn't even begun to scratch the surface. His skin felt like a tree bark looked, and sweat was a relief that had long since ceased. He had no idea how his father had spent the first eighteen years of his life on this dreadful excuse for a planet.

As Ben sat in a local cantina, sipping his drink, thinking about how miserable he was, a woman walked in. Ben was completely enthralled. She had blond hair that was tied up in a messy bun and the most beautiful bronze tan. In a word, she was mesmerizing.

The woman walked into a back room and disappeared for a few moments, but soon reappeared and made her way behind the bar. She had a brief exchange with the man who was there. Soon, he disappeared into the back room, and then left the cantina, giving a wave to the woman as he exited. Ben polished off the rest of the drink he had been working on and headed to the bar.

"What are ya having stranger?" the woman asked.

Ben grimaced. "Is it that obvious that I'm not from around here?"

"Well, nowadays most people that come around here are regulars, but what really gave you away is your skin is too pale. If you spent any time out in the sun with that skin, you would be burnt to a crisp. Not to mention your clothes look to new and you look rather . . . uncomfortable in the heat."

Ben nodded and smiled. "A reasonable assumption."

"So what are you gonna have?"

"Surprise me," Ben said.

The woman just stared at him for a moment with raised eyebrows. "Surprise me," Ben repeated with a lopsided grin.

"Okay, you're the one buying."

She dispensed a drink from the tap behind her and set it down in front of Ben. He took the drink and downed it in one shot. It felt as if fire was running strait down his throat and into his stomach, but he didn't so much as flinch.

The woman nodded her head. "Impressive; not many can do that."

"Well, I learned from the best; my uncle can drink just about anything and in mass quantities," Ben said with a laugh.

"So, do you have a name, stranger?" she asked

"Ben."

"Well, Ben, no last name, what brings you to our lowly back-no-water planet?"

Ben chuckled at her joke. "Business."

He didn't want to give away the fact that he was a Jedi, nor that he was a Skywalker. His surname would be recognized anywhere in the galaxy, but here, where his father grew up... he just didn't want to attract that kind of attention. Besides, there was a beautiful woman who seemed interested in him, and had no clue who Ben and his family were. He normally had girls falling all over him because of his name, and not because of the person he, Ben Skywalker, was. For these reasons, he ignored her jab at him not giving his last name until he could think of an alias to give her.

"Business? What kind of Business?" she probed.

"Oh, I'm just doing some scouting for the, uh, company I work for," Ben managed to answer

She looked skeptical at his answer but let it drop. "Are you gonna be around here for a while?"

"For a few, weeks at least," he answered.

"Good. Maybe I'll see you again sometime, but for now I have to get back to work," she said as another customer she seemed to recognize walked up to the bar.

As she left, Ben stood up and placed a sizable tip on the bar. As he was making his way out of the cantina, it occurred to him he had no idea what her name was. He turned around and took a few steps back in.

"I didn't get your name."

She looked up and smiled. "Jastra."

tbc...


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, Ben went back to the cantina around the same time Jastra had been working the previous day. To his delight, he saw her standing behind the bar when he arrived.

"Good evening, stranger," she said with a sly smile as he took a seat at the bar.

"I told you my name yesterday, _Jastra_, have you already forgotten it?"

"No, _Ben_, I haven't forgotten."

"Good." Ben smiled. "I was beginning to worry that I was forgettable."

Jastra laughed. "For as much as you stand out 'round here, I don't think I'll forget you any time soon! So what're ya gonna have?"

"Ah, nothing today. I've got some work I have to do." Which was the truth, from a certain point of view—he did have to comm his father to let him know of his progress, but that could be done any time. He didn't want to seem too eager, so he would pretend he had somewhere else to be.

"But I was wondering if you would have dinner with me. When's your next evening off?"

Looking slightly stunned at his forwardness, she asked, "Going awfully quickly, aren't you? We only met yesterday."

"I'm not going to be here forever, so I figured I'd ask while I had the chance."

"Well, what if I'm married?" she asked, raising her eyebrows

He hadn't thought of that. She wasn't wearing a wedding band, but not everyone did; especially out here in the outer-rim.

"You're to flirty to be married," he replied.

"Trying to sell drinks!"

"You would have mentioned it first, before telling me I was being quick." He smiled

"Do you have an answer for everything?"

"It runs in my family."

"Six o-clock," she replied.

Ben just stood there with a puzzled look on his face.

"Six o-clock, local time. Tomorrow. Here. I'll let you take me out."

"Great!" Ben exclaimed. "Although I don't really know where we can go, not being from around here and all."

"I'll think of some where," she answered with a sly smile, "probably expensive for the hassle you've given me."

"Any where you want to go is fine by me. So, I'll see you at six?"

"Don't be late," she said as she walked off to help a customer.

Ben went back to his ship, so he could use the hyper comm and contact his father. Ben gave a full report of how his mission had been going, but before he could hang up, Luke stopped him.

"What else, Ben?"

"What do you mean 'What else'? I told you everything," Ben replied, truly confused.

"I'm not asking you Jedi to Jedi, I'm asking you father to son. There is something else."

Now understanding what his father was getting at, Ben feigned innocents. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"That cute, innocent act may work on others, but I'm your father, Ben. You've made the same look when you're lying since you were little."

With a big sigh, Ben finally said, "I met a woman."

"A woman?" Luke replied slightly surprised

"Yes, a woman. I'm taking her out for dinner tomorrow night."

"That's great, Ben!"

"Well, sort of," Ben mumbled

"Sort of? Why is that?" his father asked

"I don't have a clue what we will talk about. I'm almost sure she will ask about the work I'm doing here and I can't tell her the truth, but I don't want to lie to her, either. I can probably manage to get around that, but when I tell her a fake last name I will be lying," Ben said, exasperated

"So tell her the truth. It's not a good idea to start a relationship on half-truths and lies."

"I want her to like me for me, not because of who my parents are. No offense."

"None taken."

"Now that I think about it, I guess it doesn't matter anyway."

"And why is that?" Luke asked

"Dad, she lives on Tatooine, I live on Ossus. That is a lot of space between two people."

"Your mother found me, and I'm from Tatooine."

"Yeah, but she didn't _find_ you on Tatooine."

"Well, technically she did, but that was at Jabba's Palace and she was trying to kill me at the time," Luke said with a smile

Ben shook his head. Even after knowing for years the circumstances in which his parents had met, it still freaked him out to know that his mother had wanted to kill his father. Looking at them now, and the love they have for each other, people who didn't know that little fact would never guess it.

"Well this is only the first date, so I guess I shouldn't be jumping the blaster yet. There' s just something about her..."

"Have fun, my son, but don't forget you are there for a reason," Luke reminded

"I haven't."

"Good. Comm me when you have more information. May the Force be with you, Ben," Luke said, smiling

"And with you, father."

Ben sat starring at the blank comm screen, contemplating what he was going to tell Jastra. Not coming up with an answer, he decided he would meditate to clear his mind.


	3. Chapter 3

** Chapter Three**

Ben arrived at the cantina precisely at six, with not a moment to spare. Being barely on time was a habit that his parents had strived to relieve him of. He always found himself rushing to get to his destination, squeaking into the entrance in the nick of time. Both his parents were firm believers in the theory that being somewhere_ early_ was being on time.

Obviously, Jastra held the same thoughtsl because when Ben walked into the cantina she was leaning against the bar, tapping her foot and giving him a glare that eerily reminded him of his mother. "You're late," she said. It was more a statement than an accusation.

Ben looked down at his chrono. "I am no such thing," he said with a hint of hurt as he walked towards her.

Jastra continued to stare at him, her expression never changing. "I said local time, not standard," she said with venom that she hadn't used before. "You're an hour late. I _hate_ it when people are late."

Ben stopped before he reached her. His mouth worked soundlessly open and closed as he glanced back and forth from his chrono to Jastra, a confused look upon his face. He could have sworn he set it to local time when he arrived.

At this point the bartender, who was watching the exchange with rapt attention, began to snicker. He tried to turn around to hide his amusement, but Ben caught it none the less. His eyes narrowed at Jastra, who could no longer hide her amusement and began laughing herself.

"I'm sorry..." she had to pause as more laughter consumed her. Ben continued to glare, waiting to see what was so funny. She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry; I was just trying to break this calm you always seem to have. You aren't really late," she said, still trying to regain her composure.

He worked his jaw, moving it side to side as if trying to decide whether or not to be mad. Finally, a small smile came to his lips. "I guess I've been had."

Not many people could get one by Ben Skywalker, having the Force and all, but Jastra had managed to completely fool him. She had him utterly convinced that he was late, and this made him happy. Already she managed to lower his defenses; she made him a normal person, not just a Jedi. This was something he could get used to.

"Lets go; I'm hungry," Jastra said. Then with a raised eyebrow she added, "Unless, of course, you are too mad at me?"

Ben pretended to consider the thought for a moment. "No, let's eat."

They walked outside, Ben leading Jastra—that was, until he realized she wasn't following him. He turned around and saw her walking towards a different speeder than the one he came in. "Where are you going?" he asked.

She turned halfway around, now walking sideways, still towards the other speeder. "I'm drivin'," she said with a bright smile. "You're liable to get us killed, not knowing the area and all. Besides, it will be easier for me to pilot than to give you directions for an area you don't know."

Ben couldn't argue with most of her logic; he didn't know his way around very well, and he had no clue where they were going. He figured, he could pilot with out getting them killed; he was a Skywalker, after all, but he wasn't going to say that. "Lead on."

Jastra walked over to an open-top speeder that was parked along the side of the cantina. She started to climb in but stopped on the edge, with one foot in the seat and the other leg dangling on the outside. "Before we go anywhere, I want to know your last name. I'm not in the habit of going places with complete strangers, and I'm not about to start."

Here was the question Ben was dreading the most. He hadn't really decided what he was going to tell her when this question came up. "Dissek," he said without thinking. "Ben Dissek." _So much for the truth from a certain point of view_ he thought to himself.

'Dissek' was the surname of a friend of his, who would never let Ben live down the fact that he used his name in a pinch, should he find out.

"Well, Ben Dissek, I'm Jastra Loneozner. It's nice to meet you." She grinned and slid the rest of the vehicle.

Laughing, Ben did the same.

* * *

The ride to the restaurant was relatively uneventful. Ben asked where they were going and Jastra refused to tell him. He inquired about what the place was like; she told him to wait and see. He was trying to come up with something to talk about without having to divulge anything about himself. Essentially, he was delaying the inevitable, but if he had done anything in his probing, he had driven Jastra insane.

After they arrived and had ordered their food, Jastra began the inquisition Ben had been dreading. "So, what kind of business brings you all the way out here?"

"Well, it is kinda like a private security force. We protect people, follow people who are suspected of wrong doing, things of that nature." That was the best way he could think of to describe the Jedi; they sometimes did things like that.

"Where is it located?"

He didn't want to tell her Ossus; too many people knew the Jedi were located there, and she just might make the connection. "Coruscant," he said.

This, in fact, was the truth. The Jedi Temple was there once again, as it had been over a hundred years ago. He was rarely there, staying mainly on Ossus to help teach some of the younger students before he would have an apprentice of his own, but he was there on occasion. Besides, there were so many businesses and people on Coruscant, she wouldn't be able to guess the Jedi over anything else.

"And they sent you to the rim to follow somebody?" she probed.

"I'm not really at liberty to say... sorry." he said with sincerity. "Boy, you sure do ask a lot of questions." He laughed, trying to change the subject from him to her.

She shrugged while a smile played on her lips. "Consider it my personality flaw. I already know yours, it's only fair you know mine."

"And just what would that flaw be?" he quarried

"Hmm... you're cocky, at least on the surface, and you think you have an answer to everything," she replied.

"You ask, I answer. See, we're perfect for each other." He gave her the best impression of a Han Solo grin he could muster. "And that was two, by the way."

Shaking her head with a smile she said, "I rest my case."

tbc...


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: For anyone who still remembers this fic, I'm sorry it's been so long... I've actually had chapters 4 and 5 written for a long time and just forgot to post them here. I've been working aprox. 75 hours a week recently along with going to school part time so I haven't had any time to work on this fic, but I am going to make time now. I refuse to leave it unfinished! I apologize again, and I will really try to get the new chapters posted in a timely manner! _

**Chapter Four**

After they had eaten and their plates had been cleared, Jastra and Ben continued to talk.

"Do you mind if I ask _you_ a question?" Ben asked. Jastra had been asking question after question about his life, which made it hard to keep up his charade. If he got the attention off himself, he wouldn't have as much of an opportunity to mess it all up.

"I think you just did."

Ben just stared at her with a deflated look.

"Sorry, you left yourself wide open for that one. Shoot." She laughed

"Do you like it here on Tatooine?" Ben inquired sincerely.

"I don't know anyone who lives here that particularly _likes_ it here, but it's home. There was a time when I would've said I'd give anything to get away from here, but that was a childish dream. Nobody really ever gets away from Tatooine," Jastra said with almost a disappointed tone to her voice.

"My father got away," Ben said. "Although he had to give an awful lot in order to do so," he added as an after thought. Ben often wondered if his father would have left had he known all that he would have to give. Ben didn't doubt that being a moisture farmer was a hard life, but saving the galaxy time and time again wasn't a small feat, either.

Of course, had his father never left Tatooine, the galaxy would most likely still be ruled by the Empire, his parents would have never met, and therefore he would never have been born... a thought he didn't particularly relish.

"You father was from around here?" Jastra asked breaking through Ben's thoughts. "What's his name?"

"He left when he was young; I doubt you would have heard of him."

"But my dad might have known him; he's lived in the same place his entire life." She let out a small laugh. "As if anyone around here didn't"

Panic started to rise in the pit of Ben's stomach. He couldn't tell her his father was Luke Skywalker; that would blow his entire story. He had to come up with a name, and quick.  
"His name is Tad Dissek. But like I said, he left when he was young, so I doubt your father has heard of him."

"It can't hurt to ask," she smiled.

"No," Ben said, with a feeling of dread that he hoped Jastra couldn't hear in his voice. "I guess it can't hurt."

Ben and Jastra headed back to the cantina where they had met for their date. By this point, the second sun of Tatooine, Tatoo II, had begun its plunge below the horizon to follow its twin and cast this hemisphere in darkness.

"So, shall I take you home?" Ben asked with a smile, figuring he would do the gentlemanly thing and ask, knowing she would probably turn him down.

"Uh... I don't know if that's such a great idea. You might get lost on the way back, and then you would have to spend the night out here in the middle of nowhere. That's not something I want to subject you to, unless, of course, you make me mad," she explained to him with a teasing smile.

Part of him was relieved that he wouldn't have to keep up his pretense for much longer that night; it was exhausting work. But he also couldn't help wanting to spend more time with the beautiful woman. "But there are so many shady characters around here, and I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

Jastra looked at him like he had lost his mind. "I've lived here my entire life; I think I can handle it."

Ben moved closer to her and looked into her grey eyes. "If you're sure."

She nodded her head as Ben leaned down to capture her lips with his own. It was a gentle kiss, but Jastra could feel a passion behind it. She knew there was something different with this one, he was a kind and compassionate man, but she could see a strong person beneath, and she could feel it in his kiss.

_Too bad it won't last,_ Jastra thought to herself. _He's from Coruscant and I live on Tatooine; what chance do we have?_

Ben pulled away from the kiss and smiled at her. "So I'll see you later?"

"Sure." She figured she might as well have fun while it lasted.  
Ben hoped out of the speeder and started to walk to his own. He got a few of meters away and turned back around as he heard her voice once again.

"Hey, Dissek," Jastra yelled to him, "I have the whole day off, day after tomorrow." Then her speeder was kicking up dust as she left.

Shaking his head, Ben climbed in his rented speeder and headed back to his ship; his temporary home.

As Ben climbed into his bed for the night, he began to ponder. He knew he really liked this girl... woman, but how would it work? They lived so far apart, and while Tatooine and Ossus were not across the galaxy from one other, they were far from neighboring planets.

And besides the tiny little fact of distance, when she found out the truth would she still like him? The life of a Jedi wasn't usually calm and peaceful, even in a time of peace. He would always be sent on missions, sometimes dangerous ones, and while his parents usually got to go on missions together, that was not something he could do very often with a non-Jedi. Would she be willing to put up with his long absences and always wondering if he was safe or not? Would the fame of being with a Skywalker be too much for girl from a backwater planet?

_Woah! Getting a little ahead of yourself, Skywalker?_ Ben thought to himself. _You just went on your first date; pondering how she will take your life style that she doesn't even know about is a little quick, don't you think?_

But he knew that Jastra was special, and he considered giving her the dream she had talked about: getting away from Tatooine. However, the fact that they just met came to mind again. He didn't think asking her to go away with him was the best course of action just yet, but then what else was there? Rolling on to his side, Ben shut his eyes and started to drift into sleep. These were all things he could worry about tomorrow.


End file.
